(ESE-ODO, Ondo)
The jetty at Agadagba Obon, a small mainland community in Ese-Odo Local Government area of Ondo State, was quite busy this morning. Assorted boats fitted with outboard engines, as well as speedboats competing with locally-built canoes, loitered in their numbers on the blackish waters of the Oluwa River, also known locally as Arogbo River. Their restless operators, in high-pitched voices, sought passengers to Arogbo, Ajapa and the nearby communities in the creeks. But it was to Arogbo Town that most of the boats and their intending passengers were headed. It was Saturday, September 27, 2014 – the second day of the three-day Arogbo Ibe Day 2014.
Arogbo is a sprawling Ijaw kingdom situated deep in the creeks of the Niger Delta in Ondo State. The kingdom, you were informed, comprises as many as 180 separate communities.
Accessing Arogbo isn’t too difficult. From the Ore-Okitipupa road, you veer left towards Ode-Irele, headquarters of Irele Local Government area of Ondo State. From Irele, you traverse the narrow road through the farmlands of Ikaleland to Ajagba, an Ikale town, before arriving at Agadagba Obon, an Ijaw community where the road terminates by the jetty.
Agadagba was where it suddenly dawned on you that you were right in the creeks of Ijawland. From the swampy forests populated by giant bamboo and palm trees, the sandy soil, and the music blaring forth from the mini-shops by the roadside, it was quite hard convincing yourself that you hadn’t made an erroneous detour to Bayelsa.
It’s a short distance between Agadagba and Arogbo on the serene, even if oil-stained, waters of the expansive river. A floating NNPC mega fuel station sat atop the waters, surrounded by boats seeking to fuel refill their tanks. A military patrol boat manned by men of the Nigerian Navy raced to and fro, slapping itself on the waters in a thrilling show of force.
Across the jetty, many billboards welcomed the visitor to Arogbo for the festival.
This year, the festival was quite significant. It was being staged in honour of the golden boy of the town, Hon. Kingsley Kemebradigha Kuku, Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on the Niger Delta. Kuku is also Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme. From every mouth in Arogbo, appreciative words flowed forth for Kuku, also known as K3, for having brought hitherto inconceivable development to the town.
Indeed, Arogbo has shed the hardly alluring toga of the typical riverine town. It’s no longer the rustic coastal community where inhabitants and visitors navigate the muddy, waterlogged roads in thick, water-resistant boots. Today in Arogbo, no wooden bridges connect houses. The muddy roads have been replaced with concrete roads and walkways. The entire town is illuminated each night, courtesy of a solar power project installed by Kuku. Unlike before when the presence of a car, van or Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) would have caused considerable hoopla in Arogbo, those who could afford the ‘luxury’ now ferry in their vehicles. A barge used to convey such cargo rests on the waters by the Arogbo jetty.
As you stepped out of the boat in Arogbo, you began to see the posters hailing the man fondly called K3 as the Messiah of Arogbo. Many young men spotted T-Shirts that proudly advertised them as Kingsley Kuku Boys. They said Kuku was the divine answer to the many questions in their town long forsaken in the creeks by the concerned authorities.
Hon. Kennedy Perete was the chairman of this year’s festival. He told the reporter that the annual event was a way of halting the corrosion of the people’s culture and tradition.
“You know, the white men came and told us that we had no history, no culture. So, over the years, our people came together and said we must have an event that would remind our people of our tradition, our ways of life, our marriage rites, the fishing that we do. Can our children make fishing traps now? These are some of the reasons why we’re doing this.”
He enthused that the festival was also to celebrate Kingsley Kuku who, he emphasised, had been so passionate about the community and indeed, the entire Niger-Delta since his appointment by President Jonathan.
He spoke as hundreds of members of the community and guests trooped to the Town Square from the jetty after watching a scintillating boat regatta.
Hon. Perete informed that this year’s Arogbo Ibe Day actually commenced the previous day, Friday, September 26, with a cultural display featuring different Ijaw Kingdoms. Among those that participated, he recalled, were the Arogbo, Apoi, Gbaramatu and Egbema. The event held between 7am and 2pm, he noted, adding that a musical night featuring different artistes was held later in the evening.
The boat regatta was the first major event of the second day. From about noon, hundreds of fun-seekers thronged the waterside to feed their eyes on the incredibly exhilarating displays on the waters. The event featured many daintily decorated boats peopled by different groups of men and women clad in native clothes, singing, drumming and showcasing their dancing prowess on the river. From all over the kingdom, fireworks boomed, thudding like a relentless staccato of gunfire.
A loud ovation thundered all through the community and across the river as the Regent of the Arogbo Kingdom, High Chief Amos Sofiyea, walked leisurely to the jetty. He was accompanied by some other traditional rulers visiting Arogbo for the festival.
The next event was the public lecture entitled Nigeria and the Question of Development in Coastal Niger Delta Areas, billed to be delivered by Niger Delta activist and leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari. As soon as the boat regatta was concluded, the crowd by the riverside thinned out, and everyone moved back to the Town Square for the lecture.
Standing by the square, a palm frond in his right hand, was a middle-aged man clad in white wrapper, his head turbaned with a white scarf. From a black pot, he sprinkled water on everyone that passed his way. It was some sort of harmless spiritual purification, Perete explained.
A little drizzle commenced as the Master of Ceremonies informed that Dr. D.D. Moro of the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, would take the lecture, since Asari was still on the way.
The university teacher lamented that the Niger-Delta question was yet to be convincingly answered by successive Nigerian governments and their interventionist agencies over the years. Admitting that the various administrations had recorded some minimal triumphs in the development of the coastal communities, Dr. Doro asserted that such successes hardly corresponded to the exploitation of the people. He declared that for long, no attention had been paid to the development of the Niger-Delta.
“How many of our communities are connected to the national grid? So how can economic development come to the Niger Delta? How many roads do we have,” he queried.
As his voice assumed higher decibels even as he thumped the air with a clenched fist, Moro lamented that even when scholarships were being offered the people of the South West, not many Ijaw natives benefitted. He was angry that schools, potable water, healthcare facilities and other basic necessities were still lacking in the Niger Delta communities abandoned in the creeks.
He praised the efforts of Hon. Kuku, insisting that besides attracting projects to the area, the Presidential aide had been spending his personal resources to fund infrastructural development in the area.
By the time the don concluded his lecture, the light rain had developed into a boisterous downpour, forcing its way from the heavens with considerable intensity. But that did not prevent many in the crowd from seeking clarifications from the lecturer on certain issues. It also did not prevent the Regent of Arogbo Kingdom, High Chief Amos Sofiyea from briefly relocating a few paces away from the square with some journalists, a modest umbrella on his head, to shed some light on the festival and his kingdom.
The Regent said the Arogbo-Ibe Day festival had been a yearly affair since 1998. He informed that the occasion afforded all Arogbo sons and daughters from all over the world an opportunity to return home, enjoy the traditional, festive atmosphere and chart a fresh course for the kingdom.
Looking resplendent in his light green royal robe and wrapper, High Chief Sofiyea intoned that the entire kingdom would have been impassable but for the efforts of Kuku who he said had been pivotal to the modest development in the town.
“He’s a wonderful boy,” said the traditional ruler. “I know you’ll say he’s a man, not a boy. But he’s my son, so to me, he’s a boy. He has been wonderful. God will continue to bless him.”
But the regent wanted more from the government.
“Arogbo is a canoe-building town. ‘Aro’ means canoe, and ‘ugbo’ means forest. But we have no drinkable water, even though we are surrounded by water. We drink the water from the lagoon. Everything you see here is through self-help, personally financed by Kingsley Kuku. We have no light from government, no good schools, no hospital, no bridge. It would be good if the government can help us.”
By the time the regent returned to his seat, the venue had become an expansive lake, even as the rain poured with renewed rage. Many young men with white scarves around their heads quickly turned the square into a dancing arena, drumming, dancing and singing local songs, undeterred by the torrents. Suddenly, a loud din emanated from the entrance to the square and the ‘dancing floor.’ In came Asari Dokubo, clad in a simple white buba and sokoto. He exchanged pleasantries with some of the dignitaries before joining the young men dancing in the rain. A party soon started, which would later extend into the wee hours. Many musical bands also thrilled the fun-seekers, as they staged a musical show in honour of a prominent artiste in the area, King Robert Ebizimor.
The last day of the festival was no less exciting. It was a Sunday, but on this day, church was certainly not the favoured destination for majority of Arogbo dwellers.
The day started early. From about 6am, different groups of young men and women clad in white wrappers and T-shirts, their heads wrapped in white scarves and their faces copiously coated in white chalk, marched round the community in carnival-like processions, singing, drumming and dancing. It was the Ogele Procession, an integral part of the Arogbo-Ibe Day Festival.
The awards and gala night was the grand finale of the three-day event. In attendance were top government officials, notable participants in the Niger-Delta agitation, top Nollywood stars and other eminent personalities. Top comedian Julius Agwu as well as popular actors Patience Ozukwor and Victor Osuagwu were some of the entertainers at the celebration.
The entire community could hardly curtail its excitement when the Bayelsa State governor, Mr. Seriake Dckson was led into Arogbo from Agadagba Obon by Kuku. The governor and his entourage then moved to the Palace of the Regent. He expressed delight that the people of Arogbo Ibe had preserved their tradition over the years. He praised Kuku’s efforts at developing the area and assured that more support would come from all the tiers of government, even as he pledged to talk to the Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko to do more for the people.
“I am happy with what is happening in Arogbo. I came here to express our appreciation of what Arogbo kingdom is doing, ensuring that the tradition of our land is preserved even in this environment that they have been staying for hundreds and hundreds of years,” he told the people.
On his part, Minister of Culture and representative of President Jonathan, Mr. Edem Duke, affirmed that President Jonathan was particularly delighted that one of the greatest successes of his administration was using an Arogbo son, Kingsley Kuku to solve the challenges of the Niger Delta.
“Upon becoming President, the biggest problem confronting him was solving the problem of the Niger Delta youths. And of all the 170 million Nigerians that are resident in Nigeria and over 20 million that are resident outside Nigeria, he found a worthy son from Arogbo Kingdom to perform this onerous task. I think it is a matter of pride to the Arogbo Nation. Today, many youths of the Ijaw nation have travelled far and wide to places like U.S.A, Japan, Britain, Malaysia, courtesy of the Amnesty Office headed by Kingsley Kuku. There is nowhere on the face of the earth that Kingsley Kuku has not facilitated the visitation of the Niger Delta people. Therefore it is proper that we celebrate this young man – a man of dignity, courage, passion and a humble Arogbo young man. I salute you on behalf of Nigeria and on behalf of the President on the historic recognition by your community,” the minister said.
As another set of fireworks boomed endlessly this Sunday morning, the reporter asked one of the participants at the Ogele procession, a young man in a T-shirt with the inscription: Hon Kingsley Kuku Boys, why the entire community was so passionate about Kuku. The man who had a yellow scarf around his head and a half-empty bottle of local gin in his right hand, replied: “He has been helping us, not just in Arogbo, but throughout the Niger Delta. Look at Arogbo here. See the infrastructural development. See the concrete-slab streets, the culverts and drainages, the solar-powered lights. And when you praise him, he says no, you should praise President Jonathan who appointed him in the first place. K3 is so kind, so generous, so humble. I personally came in from the University of Port Harcourt to Arogbo to be part of the festival.”
And he took off, forgetting to mention his name, to rejoin his peers as they drummed, danced and sang towards the jetty.

(TOPE ADEBOBOYE recently spent three days in Arogbo, a riverine Ijaw kingdom in Ondo State, enjoying the local delicacies, songs, drums and dance at this year’s Arogbo Ibe Festival.)

Drums, dance and songs in a coastal enclave